Launching the Friendly Pines Blog

I’ve been given the responsibility of writing the very first Friendly Pines’ blog. So this is it! The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria of blogs. The blog heard round the world. The Sputnik of blogs. The first time my attention had been drawn to the idea of a blog or to the prospect of blogging occurred a couple years ago when the patriarch of one of our long-time and loyal camp families (whose advice, I might add has proved helpful on more than one occasion) suggested that Friendly Pines needed two things. One of them was a blog. I was taken so off-guard by the suggestion, I don’t even recall what the second thing was. At first I thought a blog might be a large inflatable toy for the pool or lake.

The advantage of working with a team of twenty-somethings is that you are never very long in the dark when it comes to things like blogs, friending, Googling or Wikipedia. (Interesting note. Spell checker has placed that red squiggly line under the words blogs, friending, Googling and Wikipeidia, which makes me feel a little one up on Mr. Mircosoft Word.) On one of our recent road trips to a Tucson Round-Up, the idea of a Friendly Pines blog was suggested just as we were passing the town of Anthem on the I-17. By the time we’d arrived at Picacho Peak, the staff had brought me up to reasonable speed on the subject. And when we’d finally arrived in Tucson, the notion of a Friendly Pines blog was a go!

I must confess that I’m very self-conscious as I sit here and blog. It is common among camp directors to be inextricably linked to things old-fashioned. Uncle Bud used to tell us running a summer camp was comparable to driving a Conestoga wagon in the fast lane of the Black Canyon Freeway. He was right. Progress may sweep the rest of the world, but at camp it hits a speed bump. I still remember my first email account. Though it felt kind of hip to have one, I had a hard time trusting that it would work. It was the mechanics of getting from here to there that bothered me. So for the first few weeks I would type my message using the email program. Then I’d print it. Then I’d fax it. Baby steps.

We will make every effort to keep our blog informative and interesting. We hope that you will visit often and comment when you feel the urge. Our staff will read your comments before posting them. (We’ll cull the inappropriate ones.) In the non-summer months, you can expect a posting or two every week. We’ll even throw in some pictures. During the summer it is our intention to post daily if possible. I guess we’ll have to see how things go. If you ever have a topic you think would be one we should cover, don’t hesitate to suggest it. Some of the best ideas start out as suggestions from you.

That’s it for today. Not an all-together unpleasant experience. It was actually kind of fun. I’ve been told to keep things brief, besides I’m all blogged out for today. Bye for now.